Jun 09, 2014

Expanding on Marketplaces Beyond Amazon and eBay — Sears

When you think of Sears, what product categories come to mind? It may not be surprising that on the Sears Marketplace, Apparel is up 36% and Auto is up 35%. But consider how unique it is for any marketplace to have cultivated a buyer audience in both these categories. For apparel sellers who want a boost in sales, look no further than Sears, whose long established brand has attracted loyal buyers for many years. And the same goes for auto retailers.

The marketplace has 110 million items listed across various categories.

The chart below is fresh off the press as of April 30, 2014 and highlights the main categories of Sears.com and their year-over-year growth so far in 2014. Areas such as Apparel and Auto show well above industry growth. Tools and Fitness & Sports are also creeping up as potential selling opportunities, too.

The data in the table doesn’t lie: Sears is a growing online marketplace that’s slowly but surely expanding its product selection. As a retailer, why keep all your eggs in one basket? Expanding to newer marketplaces diversifies your channels and, depending on which ones you choose, could allow you to focus on other e-commerce priorities, such as sourcing, pricing, promotion and fulfillment.

Sears.com is a marketplace that should be on all retailers’ radars. The variety of items in its catalog is steadily increasing, and retailers can benefit from several perks associated with selling through the number eight retailer on the Internet Retailer Top 500 list. Sears is only one of nine marketplaces that we believe retailers should consider selling through in 2014.